NEW YORK – Tommy, 26, has been living in a dark, cement cage
inside a shed in New York for more than a decade. Because Tommy is a chimpanzee
– not a person – his situation is considered legal, but an animal rights group
is challenging that assertion in a lawsuit filed this week.

The first-of-its-kind suit, filed Monday, asks a New York judge
to free the chimpanzee from its illegal imprisonment with a couple on a
reindeer farm in Gloversville, N.Y., according
to USA Today.

Tommy has a right to live a more "chimpanzee-like" life at a
sanctuary, attorney Steven Wise told USA Today. Wise is the president of the Nonhuman Rights Project, which
is spearheading the effort.

The lawsuit accuses the couple of "detaining Tommy in solitary
confinement in a small, dank, cement cage in a cavernous dark shed." Wise wants
the chimp recognized as a "legal person" with a right to liberty, according
to the New York Times.

Wise told USA Today that because chimpanzees have free will and
can make choices, they would likely choose to live in a more natural setting.

In several interviews, Patrick Lavery, who cares for the chimp, contends
that Tommy's lodgings, which are inspected every year, far exceed federal and
state standards, complete with a cage open to an outdoor area, a heated
building, walls decorated like a jungle and color TV ideal for watching
cartoons.

The Nonhuman Rights Project has requested a writ of habeas
corpus for Tommy, arguing that New York laws "do not limit legal personhood to
homo sapiens."

According to New York law, any person who is unlawfully detained
can seek a writ of habeas corpus that requires jailers to prove the basis for a
prisoner's detention.

According to The New York Times, the organization has spent
years honing this legal strategy, including poring through suits across the
country to find a strong case.

The organization intends to file two more lawsuits to two
chimpanzees allegedly used for research and another chimp living on private
property in Niagara Falls.